Stoner feared tyre would fail

Stoner took a different type of tyre to teammate Loris Capirossi, who finished 18 seconds ahead of the Australian in second.

Bridgestone confirmed that the structure of the tyre was similar under both works Ducatis, but the family of compounds chosen was different.

Stoner had tried the tyre raced by Capirossi during practice, but could not get on with it.

"I was just hoping to finish the race to tell you the truth," Stoner said.

"I didn't know what the tyre looked like as out there I can only feel what they are like. I was just hoping to finish the race and go into the last few laps in the lead of my little group."

Asked if he was nervous about crashing with the tyre he had underneath him, Stoner said: "With a feeling that I had, when a tyre does that kind of thing, you expect it to disintegrate.

"But I looked at the tyre afterwards and it was okay, so next time I know how hard I can push and not to be afraid of this kind of thing and not to be so cautious in the future.

"Fifth was the absolute maximum I could have done today."

The race was held in extremely hot conditions, with the temperature reaching 35 degrees centigrade. But it was also thought that the recent resurfacing of the Sachsenring had been a factor in the tyre problems, with the new asphalt proving particularly abrasive for all three GP classes.